Airlines

SpiceJet to bring 10 grounded Boeing 737 back into service by mid-April

Domestic carrier SpiceJet on Friday announced plans to bring back into operations 10 of its grounded aircraft, including four Boeing B737 Max, by mid-April. The airline said it has added 10 planes to its fleet since October 2024 -- three grounded aircraft that were brought back into service and seven inducted on lease. The move comes close on the heels of SpiceJet signing a pact with US-based engine MRO StandardAero Inc last month for the restoration of its grounded MAX fleet. SpiceJet has 28 aircraft, of the total 62 in the fleet, in operations, comprising 20 B737, six De Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 and two Airbus A320, as on January 10 as per flight tracking website planespotter.com. The remaining 34 aircraft -- 16 B737s and 18 De Havilland Canada DHC-8 Dash 8 -- are on the ground due to various reasons, as per the website. The return of 10 grounded aircraft back into operations will help the airline significantly increase its current fleet of 28 aircraft, even as some of thes

Govt plans to make weather data sharing with IMD mandatory for airlines

The government is planning to make it mandatory for domestic airlines to share weather data captured by aircraft during takeoff and landing with the IMD, which senior officials say will significantly enhance forecasting capabilities. M Ravichandran, secretary in the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences, told PTI that his ministry had been in discussions with the civil aviation ministry on the matter, and providing weather data would be "made mandatory for domestic airlines within a year". "It has to be mandatory... It will not only be very useful for airline operations but also for weather forecasts everywhere," he said. The earth sciences ministry secretary said weather forecasts depended largely on the number of observations collected. "The more observations we have, the better our predictions can be. It is similar to an exit poll -- if you gather data from more places, you will get a clearer picture. In the same way, we aim to collect information on temperature, humidity, and wind .

Jeju Air's problems mount after plane crash that killed 179 people

Jeju Air's stock price, already trading near record lows, has fallen 10% since the crash

Aeromexico, Saudia rank among the most punctual global airlines for 2024

The aviation analytics firm analyzes more than 25 million data points from 600-plus sources each day to determine whether airlines are meeting their scheduled arrival times

Air India to increase global coverage in years ahead: CEO Wilson

Air India has covered a lot of ground since privatisation and its global coverage will further increase in the years ahead, the airline's chief Campbell Wilson said on Wednesday. He also said the interior refit of the single-aisle fleet, serving domestic and short-haul international destinations, is underway, and will be completed by mid-2025. Loss-making Air India was acquired by the Tata Group from the government in January 2022, and is undergoing an ambitious five-year transformation plan. In 2024, Air India completed the merger of Vistara with itself as well as integration of Air India Express and AIX Connect was also done. In his New Year message, Wilson said these mergers and new aircraft deliveries have taken Air India Group's fleet to 300 aircraft, allowing it to expand to over 100 domestic and international destinations. "Air India's global coverage will further increase in the years ahead, not least because of the recent addition of 100 aircraft to our order book, augmen

New aviation law 'Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam' to take effect from Jan 1

The new law that seeks to facilitate designing and manufacturing of aircraft in India as well as facilitate the ease of doing business in the aviation space will come into force from January 1, 2025. The new Act -- Bharatiya Vayuyan Adhiniyam, 2024 -- that replaces the 90-year old Aircraft Act, was cleared by the Parliament earlier this month. According to a notification issued on Tuesday, the "central government hereby appoints the 1st day of January, 2025 as the date on which the provisions of the said Act, shall come into force". Among others, the Act provides for regulation and control of the design, manufacture, maintenance, possession, use, operation, sale, export and import of aircraft and connected matters. The legislation will also remove redundancies and replace the Aircraft Act, 1934, which has been amended 21 times. India is one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets.

Airlines to mandatorily share int'l passenger data with customs from Apr 1

Airlines will have to mandatorily share details of foreign travellers with the Indian Customs authorities from April 1, 2025, and non-compliance can attract penalties. All air transport service providers operating flights to/from India will have to register with the National Customs Targeting Centre-Passenger (NCTC-Pax) by January 10, 2025, in order to comply with the requirement, according to a communication issued by the Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC). Details ranging from mobile number, and payment mode to travel itinerary need to be shared with the authorities 24 hours before the departure of an international flight. On August 8, 2022, the CBIC notified the 'Passenger Name Record Information Regulations, 2022' under which airlines were required to share passenger name record (PNR) details of foreign travellers with the Customs department. This system is intended to enhance interdiction capabilities of authorities as well as risk analysis of passengers. In c

Air India to strengthen practices in 2025, become profitable: CEO

Wilson stated that the Group employs 30,000 people who help its two airlines fly over 60 million passengers annually to more than 100 destinations within India and internationally

IndiGo exploring option to advance the induction of wide body planes

Airline in talks with Norse Atlantic Airways to lease 6 B787 aircraft

Google's proposed search result changes get thumbs up from EU airlines

Google has announced a series of changes in search result formats in recent months following conflicting demands from price-comparison sites, hotels, airlines and small retailers

IndiGo suggests step-by-step hike in pilot rest period from June 2025

Airline opposes DGCA plan to extend 'night duty window'

Airlines are price takers, don't have influence on prices they pay: IATA

Airlines are price takers as they do not have an influence on the prices they pay, IATA Chief Economist Marie Owens Thomsen has said and highlighted that carriers' need to diversify their revenues is complicated by slim profit margins as well as weak balance sheets. In a fast-growing aviation market like India where the air traffic demand is on the rise, there are persistent concerns about airfare trajectory and suggestions from various quarters to make air tickets more affordable. Discussing overall airfares and the costs of airlines, Thomsen said airlines do not have any influence on the prices they pay. "There are too few aircraft manufacturers and oil companies. Whatever supplies we are looking at upstream, we are price takers and downstream, we have the hyper competitive environment where all customers can see all fares from all airlines at all times. So, we always compete in price," she told PTI in an interview in Geneva earlier this week. Thomsen, who is the Chief Economist

Half of PIA's fleet grounded due to shortage of essential components

A shortage of essential components and spare parts has grounded 17 of the Pakistan International Airlines' 34 aircraft, leaving them out of service, according to sources. The position is that 17 aircraft of the PIA fleet remain out of service, a source in the airlines said. At present, seven out of 12 planes in the airline's Boeing 777 fleet are grounded. Additionally, seven out of 17 Airbus A320 planes are also non-operational. The airline's smaller ATR aircraft have not been spared, with only two of the five aircraft currently active. The grounded planes have been affected by a lack of essential components, including engines, landing gear, Auxiliary Power Units (APUs), and other vital parts. Sources in the airlines said that shortage of funds and due clearance from relevant ministries were the primary reasons for the shortage. This has severely affected the operational efficiency of the country's national flag carrier, which is set to resume flights to Europe on January 10 afte

Tata airlines overall seat capacity soars 20%, but IndiGo way ahead

Despite that the group has a long way to go even to reach half of the domestic seat capacity of rival IndiGo

Korean Air completes Asiana takeover to form one of Asia's biggest airlines

Korean Air acquired a 63.88 per cent stake in Asiana on Thursday, making it a subsidiary three years later than the smaller airline had initially anticipated

IATA chief hopeful that India will provide more bilateral flying rights

Global airlines' grouping IATA's chief Willie Walsh has expressed optimism that India will provide more bilateral flying rights as Indian carriers are set to operate more wide-body planes in the coming years. India, one of the world's fastest growing civil aviation markets, has been taking a cautious stance on increasing bilateral flying rights as efforts are on to make the country a global aviation hub. More number of wide-body planes with Indian airlines will allow them to provide direct connectivity to various overseas destinations. IATA Director General Willie Walsh has said the bilateral flying rights situation with respect to India will improve. "It (bilateral flying rights) will improve. If you look at the aircraft orders, the wide-body aircraft orders that IndiGo and Air India have, they want to see more rights available to them. They are not going to get rights to fly unless you give them reciprocal rights. "I am optimistic that it (bilateral flying rights situation) will

Air India Express-AIX Connect merger will drive long-term profitability: MD

Tata Group's low-cost carrier, Air India Express, has completed its merger with AIX Connect (formerly AirAsia India), a strategic move to create a unified budget airline under Air India with a focus on achieving sustainable profitability without straining its financials, a top company official said. Dismissing concerns regarding the merger of AIX Connect, a loss-making entity, Air India Express managing director Aloke Singh told PTI, "The merger process was completed in October. The integration of AIX Connect will expedite our path to profitability by achieving significant scale, optimising costs, and better utilising our assets. The objective is to build a robust, scalable network that supports long-term growth." Compared to a profit of Rs 117 crore in FY'23, Air India Express reported a net loss of Rs 163 crore in FY'24. This was despite a robust 33 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y) increase in income to Rs 7,600 crore, driven by higher passenger volumes and improved operational ...

Threat to flights: 16 cases filed in Delhi likely to be transferred to NIA

At least 16 cases registered in connection with threats to flights of different airlines operating from Delhi are likely to be transferred to the National Investigation Agency (NIA), officials sources said on Friday. It has been learnt that the Delhi Police has written to the city government's home department to transfer the cases to the NIA, they said, adding that it would be further sent to the Union home ministry for final approval. "The matter was related to national security and it has an international ramification. All these 16 cases were registered under the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against Safety of Civil Aviation (SUA SCA) Act with BNS sections and they needed deeper probe," an official source said. In the last two weeks of October, more than 510 domestic and international flights received bomb threats that later turned out to be hoaxes, causing major operational and financial distress for the airlines across the country. Most of the threats were issued through social .

Air India Express expands, defers Kolkata-Dhaka direct flight plans

Air India Express, the budget-carrier arm of Air India, is embarking on a significant expansion by increasing its fleet size and introducing new routes, as passenger growth remains robust. The airline, however, has deferred plans to launch direct flights between Kolkata and Dhaka, citing the ongoing political crisis in Bangladesh. "You would recall we had announced our operational plan for Dhaka, which is a new and significant market for us. But because of the situation there, we have deferred those plans," Aloke Singh, Managing Director of Air India Express, said. "As soon as the conditions are right, we will resume those plans," he said. The airline had initially planned to launch the Dhaka services in September with six weekly flights. Despite the deferment, Singh said the airline remains committed to expanding its presence in the eastern sector. He said its international service flights to and from Kathmandu would begin with the summer schedule, starting the end of March ...

Should you buy or sell IndiGo shares after worst airline rankings?

Technically, IndiGo stock seems to be facing resistance around its 100-DMA on the daily chart; however, the short- and the long-term trend seems favourable for the stock.